Daly City Councilmember Michael (Mike) P. Guingona may perhaps be the most recognizable and longest-elected official of Filipino-American heritage in San Mateo County.
Guingona was first elected to the Daly City Council in 1993, after an unsuccessful bid in 1992. He has since been reelected to the city council four times (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006).
Mike has had many firsts as a Fil-Am in the Daly City Council, notably as the first Fil-Am elected to it, and the youngest to serve as Daly City Mayor at age 33.
Mike Guingona has been Daly City Mayor four times (1995, 1997, 2001 and 2005) and Daly City Vice Mayor for one term, aside from serving his community as member of the San Mateo County (SMC) District Board of Directors (which he chaired in 2001) and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (which he chaired in 2003).
The San Francisco-born Guingona is actively involved with the Sister City Committee and was instrumental in initiating the Daly City-Quezon City (Philippines) Sister City partnership.
According to Councilmember Guingona, it was during the years following law school that he developed a growing interest in local government. He also saw the changing demographics of Daly City, which motivated him to run for a seat in the City Council.
Prior to winning a seat in the Daly City Council, Mike worked as a full-time Deputy Public Defender in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, a job which he kept until 1999 when he left the Public Defender’s Office to establish his own law practice in San Francisco, specializing in criminal defense.
Guingona’s professional affiliations include membership in the California Trial Lawyers Association, the State Bar of California, the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California and the California Public Defenders Association.
Mike Guingona has lived in Daly City for most of his life, the only exception being the time when he attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He attended Daly City Public Schools and graduated from Westmoor High School where he was class president during his senior year, a foreshadowing of his future role as a respected community activist and leader.
Guingona pursued his Juris Doctor at the University of San Francisco Law School where he received his law degree in 1989. Soon afterward, he was admitted to the State Bar of California.
More recently, Mike was elected to the 5th Supervisorial District of the San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee. He is the only current Fil-Am member of the committee, whose mission is to support Democratic candidates and elected officials at all levels of government as well as ballot measures promoting Democratic values in San Mateo County and the State of California. (www.asianjournal.com)
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